Killer Queen

In this song by Queen there's a line that goes 'Perfume came naturally from Paris'.

It reminds me of my birthday trip to Paris for lingerie and perfume. It started with an early morning train ride on the Eurostar from King's Cross station into the heart of Paris. First stop was breakfast at Laduree on the Champs-Elysees Avenue and consisted of French toast, hot chocolate and various pastries. We were energised for our little shopping excursion but not before a quick trip up the Eiffel Tower.

After a lot of research I wanted to visit the following French Lingerie houses:

Fifi Chachnil

A lovely little boutique located in a courtyard off rue St Honore. It's style is fun and flirtatious with a hint of the ’50s: Think Brigitte Bardot meets Betty Boop—there’s lots of polka-dot details and contrasting ribbon bows. With my purchase I was given a little vial of the perfume. A spicy, earthy fragrance and due to its exclusivity I decided to invest in it. Luckily there is also a boutique here in the UK so I didn't have to quite go all the way back to Paris to a full bottle.

Cadolle
Herminie Cadolle is credited with inventing the bra in 1889, thus liberating women from the corset. Four generations later, this little red-and-gold boutique is still a purveyor of the kind of undergarment that moulds your body into the perfect shape. For the bespoke version, head around the corner to the by-appointment-only Loft Couture

Chantal Thomas
Another boutique on the rue St Honore, the slinky-white interior is strategically positioned next to fashionista favorite Colette, provides a boudoir backdrop for striking designs by Chantal Thomass, one of the pioneers of underwear as fashion. With their instantly recognizable black silhouette logo, Thomass’s flirty creations have just the right dose of dark and sexy but not too masochistic.

If that wasn't enough we also managed to fit a tour of Notre Dame Cathedral before heading over to the lingerie section at Galeries Lafayette in case we had missed something earlier. This was where I managed to pick up my favourite piece of underwear... my Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra designed for La Perla.